The present disclosure broadly relates to the art of spring devices and, more particularly, to a spring body that includes an elastomeric wall and a comparatively rigid wall with a filament structure extending within at least a portion of the elastomeric and rigid walls. A gas spring device including such a spring body and a method of forming such a spring body are also included.
Gas spring assemblies of a variety of types and kinds are known and commonly used to support a sprung mass on an unsprung mass, such as supporting a body or chassis of a vehicle on an axle or other wheel-engaging member, for example. One common gas spring construction includes an elastomeric or otherwise flexible wall that is secured between comparatively rigid end members to at least partially form a spring chamber therebetween. Typically, the flexible wall extends between opposing open ends thereof. The end members are typically formed separately from the flexible wall and are then secured to different ones of the open ends using any one of a variety of known mechanical connections.
Notwithstanding the substantial success and widespread usage of such conventional gas spring constructions, certain areas of improvement in the art of gas spring assemblies still remain. One such area involves the reduction of manufacturing, inventory and assembly costs associated with the production of known gas springs assemblies.
More specifically, it is common knowledge that the flexible wall of conventional gas spring constructions is normally formed from a material (e.g., rubber) that is different from the material (e.g., metal or rigid plastic) that is used to form the end members of such conventional gas spring constructions. As such, these parts are manufactured separately from one another and then connected together to form the gas spring assembly. In assembling the components, a rigid mechanical connection (e.g., roll-crimp, swage or threadably secured component) is normally utilized to form and maintain a substantive fluid-tight seal between the flexible wall and each of the end members. However, it has been recognized that costs associated with manufacturing and inventorying such individual components, as well as those costs associated with the assembly thereof, undesirably increase the overall cost of producing such gas spring assemblies.
Additionally, in many conventional gas spring constructions, the opposing end members are themselves often formed from dissimilar materials (e.g., one end member from metal and one end member from plastic). In such arrangements, different mechanical connections are commonly used for securement of each end member. Thus, the aforementioned costs may be further increased as the complexity of the gas spring assembly increases relative to more basic constructions.
Accordingly, it is believed desirable to develop a gas spring body for use in forming a gas spring assembly that overcomes the foregoing and other disadvantageous qualities and/or characteristics.